NEW national under-23 triple jump champion Sam Trigg has revealed his long-term aim is to try and make the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Erme Valley Harrier Trigg jumped to the England Championship title at wet and windy Bedford on Saturday with a personal best equalling distance of 15.41 metres.
However, despite his victory, he looks set to miss out selection for the European Under-23 Championship in Tallinn next month, unless he can jump the qualifying distance of 16.30m within the next week.
But, the Oxford University student was just delighted with the win.
“I couldn’t really believe it,” he said. “I was very pleased with the outcome.
“I haven’t really done much in terms of competition this season, but I have picked up my training in the last year.
“I have just been taking it competition by competition and it has been going very well.
“The distances weren’t particularly long (on Saturday), but the conditions were really bad. It was absolutely tipping it down with rain, but I still managed to equal my PB and I am sure there is a lot more to come.
“The main job on the day was just to win. I was not really worried about the distance.
“But it would be nice to try and target the qualifying distance anyway (for the European Under-23 Championships) just in case they do have any last minute places.”
He added: “I’ve got two more main competitions left. The first one is actually the oldest international competition in the world – the Oxford/Cambridge v Harvard/Yale match. That is next Monday at the Sir Roger Bannister Track.
“Then I have the British Championships (on July 4), which I think is where I might jump big as I will be pushed by the best in the country. It will be tough to get a medal, but I’m just going to focus on the distance really.”
Although the former Ivybridge Community College pupil is looking forward to the remainder of the season, he is also looking longer term and he hopes a two-year spell studying and training in America will take his athletics career to even greater heights.
“I got head-hunted to go to America for the next two years,” he revealed. “I have got a masters lined up in New Mexico. It’s very exciting.
“It will be nice. I do all my training at Brickfields and David King and I are always complaining about the wind and rain so it will be nice to escape it for two years and train in the sun.
“In terms of longer goals, 2018 is the next Commonwealth Games and that’s what I’ll be targeting. I’ll only have to jump just over 16m, which I think I will be doing within the next year hopefully.
“So I will be focussing on that really for the next two or three years. That’s the sole aim.”
Trigg has been studying for a degree in biology at Oxford University but will do a masters in exercise science.
He will be based near Albuquerque, a high altitude city, which should also help his performance. In addition, Trigg will get to compete against some of the top talent in the American collegiate system.
“I’ll compete in the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) which will be great,” he said.
“I won the British Universities Indoors, but I think I would struggle to make the top 15 over there as the competition is just something else. But that should be great for me.”
- TAVISTOCK will host the Devon 10,000m Championships on Wednesday night. There will be two races based on entry times, with the first starting at 7.15pm.